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In this episode, retired agent Kurt McKenzie reviews his Russian “birth tourism” investigation targeting boutique companies in South Florida that specialize in assisting pregnant Russian mothers with giving birth in the U.S. to circumvent visa requirements and secure American citizenship for their newborns.
The case took a surprise detour when the owner of one of the birth tourism companies, Vladimir Nevidomy, was discovered to also be involved in sending military-grade, night-vision and thermal-vision rifle scopes to Russia. The U.S. State Department bans these devices from being exported.
Special Agent (Retired)
Kurt McKenzie
6/2001 – 11/2021
Kurt McKenzie served in the FBI for 24 years. For the first three and a half years he was a forensic biologist analyzing DNA evidence from sex crimes, serial murders, and other Violent Crimes at FBI Headquarters. For the last twenty and a half years of his Bureau career, he was a special agent assigned to the Miami Division serving on squads working Transnational Organized Crime, Transnational Narcotics, Health Care Fraud and Financial Institution Fraud. While working these matters, he had many international deployments to Afghanistan, Albania, Canada, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Germany, Israel, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Romania.
Upon being promoted to Supervisory Special Agent, Kurt led joint inter-agency task forces where he managed 26-member teams comprised of FBI agents, task force officers, analysts, and support staff investigating high-profile transnational organized crime and major theft operations.
During his Bureau career, Kurt has earned commendations for investigative excellence and leadership, including the FBI Medal of Excellence (2018), Outstanding Federal Law Enforcement Officer (2017), and the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force Award (2012) among others. He has a basic-level proficiency in the Russian language and served as an instructor and advisor on organized crime matters to foreign governments.
Kurt was previously on FBI Retired Case File Review episode 251: Pill Mill Case, Operation Oxy Alley.
The following are articles and images from the Miami based birth tourism investigation and the military devices export case:
C-Span (Video) – 5/20/2015: 14th Amendment and Tourist Baby Boom
NBC News – 6/21/2017: FBI Raids ‘Miami Mama’ Business in Hallandale Beach
Forum Daily – 28.06.2017: A blow to maternity tourism in Miami: what is behind the FBI’s affairs against Russian-speaking companies
AP News – March 22, 2019: Mother Russia: South Florida sees a boom in ‘birth tourism’
NBC News – 1/9/2018: Birth tourism brings Russian baby boom to Miami
CBS4 Investigates: Shortcut To Citizenship
New York Post – June 5, 2018: Man gets 2 years for exporting military equipment to Russia
Counterintelligence Awareness Case Study Night Vision Devices
Washington Times – 3/21/2018: Vladimir Nevidomy, Florida man, pleads guilty in scheme to export military devices to Russia
CNBC – 1/7/2019: Moscow says FBI arrested Russian a day after it detained former US Marine
Also listen to FBI Retired Case File Review episodes 310: Dennis Cosgrove – Russian Diamond Looters, Golden ADA about Russian Organized Crime.
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